


all i wanna do is always bring good to you

by stjudes



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Crush at First Sight, Elevators, M/M, Neighbors, Unrequited Crush, chanyeol is a radio intern, kyungsoo works at lush, vegan!kyungsoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 14:57:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12655791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjudes/pseuds/stjudes
Summary: kyungsoo is chanyeol's mysterious vegan neighbor. he likes sweaters, herbal tea, and making chanyeol feel like a fool. naturally, chanyeol has a giant crush on him.





	all i wanna do is always bring good to you

Every morning without fail, Chanyeol stumbles out of his apartment, books falling out of his bag, shoelaces untied, ten minutes late to wherever he’s supposed to be. Usually, he trips and eats shit on the gross carpet of the hallway, and Kyungsoo Do is there watching him with his big sleepy eyes, sort of amused but also not really. They’ve been neighbors for about three months now, and all Chanyeol knows about him is his name and that he leaves for work every morning the same time Chanyeol does. He also knows that Kyungsoo makes him nervous in ways that he can’t really understand and hasn’t tried to.

Chanyeol mostly just feels like a giant inconvenience around him, and stopped asking (shouting, really, with a hint of pleading) him to hold the elevator the fifth or sixth time they left their apartments at the same time. But Kyungsoo keeps the door open anyways, and after three months of shared elevator rides, he’s almost brave enough to say it’s kind of their  _ thing.  _

They don’t really talk. Chanyeol tries to, of course, because talking sometimes feels like one of the only things he knows how to do. He says “Good morning!” and “I like your sweater” and “I’m so sorry for spilling coffee on your shoes.” (That only happened once, but the incident comes back to him in flashes when he’s trying to go to sleep- the subtle clenching of Kyungsoo’s fists, the way his eyes rose heavenward beneath the thick dark brows, his tight-mouthed nods at Chanyeol’s countless apologies.) Kyungsoo says “Morning” or “Thank you” or he says nothing at all. That’s okay. They’re not friends, not really, but Chanyeol thinks he would like to be, if Kyungsoo wasn’t so impervious to all of his attempts. 

Today, Chanyeol is trying to spice it up. He came into this elevator with a plan and everything. He’s going to extend the olive branch toward Kyungsoo (via donuts) and he’s going to tell him to have a good day when they get off the elevator. If he’s feeling especially brave, he might even tell him to have a  _ great  _ day. It’s in the hands of god now. 

Kyungsoo is locking his door when he steps out into the hallway. Chanyeol is early for once. Had to be; he didn’t want to look like a mess this morning, not when the goal is to be worthy of friendship. A vague part in the back of his brain notices how nice Kyungsoo looks today. He looks nice every day, if he thinks about it; he usually wears thick-knit sweaters, earthy hues that remind him of mossy forests and Pennsylvania, denim jeans that range from leg-hugging to artfully baggy, sensible and on the fashionable side of scuffed. He’s the type of unintentionally cool person that Chanyeol (who has to try  _ very  _ hard to seem even mildly cool) would secretly resent but doesn’t. 

“Hey, good morning!” Chanyeol says, hands sweaty around the donut box. He winces- too loud, too sudden. Kyungsoo jumps when he speaks and drops his keys. 

“Morning,” Kyungsoo says politely, smiling a contained little smile at him before leading the way to the elevator. He’s got a canvas bag slung over one shoulder and an eco-friendly travel mug in his hands, the string of a tea bag swinging from the rim as he walks. He’s a whole head shorter than Chanyeol, maybe more, and his lips are soft against the mug as he takes a long sip, inhales long and deep like the scent gives him peace, and he smiles at Chanyeol again when they reach the elevator, only the smile is more genuine this time. 

“Good morning,” Chanyeol repeats, tongue big and unwieldy in his mouth. His grip on the donut box has loosened and he has to fumble to keep it from falling and he thinks,  _ Okay, maybe I need to reevaluate this.  _

Kyungsoo stares at him for one long moment, eyebrows pulling together like he’s trying to figure out what Chanyeol even  _ is,  _ exactly.  _ That’s a very good question,  _ he thinks weakly.  _ I’m wondering that myself, actually.  _

And then he laughs, all screwed-shut eyes and bright teeth, and the fist around Chanyeol’s heart squeezes tighter. 

The elevator dings as it begins its slow shaky descent. Kyungsoo’s foot is going  _ tap tap tap  _ against the stained carpet. Their reflections are distorted in the metal doors- one tall stretched-out blob, the other small and round. Like funhouse mirrors. They’re a floor away from the ground when Chanyeol remembers his plan, the entire reason he’d gotten up an hour early to buy a box of donuts. Not shitty donuts, either- nice ones from an actual bakery. Kyungsoo doesn’t look like the type of person who would appreciate a 7Eleven donut. Or, Chanyeol wants Kyungsoo to think that  _ Chanyeol  _ isn’t the sort of person who appreciates a 7Eleven donut. (He is. He does.)

“Oh, do you want a donut?” he asks, so very casual and nonchalant. Like it barely occurred to him, like it’s no big deal.

Kyungsoo’s head swivels very slightly, to the left and then  _ up  _ to meet his eyes. Mentally, he goes over the words that just came out of his mouth. There’s a very real chance he didn’t speak in a human language- his tongue feels rubbery and artificial, like it’s been replaced by one of those snakes made out of gummy candy.

“I’m supposed to bring them in for work but the bakery gave me extras,” he adds lamely, brain working to conjure up an appropriate lie. He holds the box out in front of him, lid open to put all of the expensive goods out on display. Kyungsoo will grab one and say  _ whoa, thank you! We should hang out tonight and form an eternal bond! Be my best friend until death? _

That’s not what happens. 

Kyungsoo blinks at him. He’s reminded of field trips to the aquarium, iridescent fish regarding him from behind glass like an alien invader, like someone from a whole other planet. His face almost- pauses, like he can’t physically comprehend what Chanyeol is trying to say. 

“Or,” Chanyeol says, face hot, “you don’t have to, I-“

“I’m vegan,” Kyungsoo says, almost apologetically. His voice is low and clear and  _ sweet _ , somehow, like he’s a person with good intentions. A kind voice. “Thank you, though. You’re- that’s really nice.” 

Chanyeol’s heart stutters in its beating and then starts up again, faster than before.  _ He thinks I’m nice _ , says the moony little voice inside of him. It almost takes away the sting of his failure.  _ Of course he’s vegan, dumbass,  _ he curses himself.  _ Why didn’t you have a back-up plan? _

“I’m going to bring you a vegan donut,” Chanyeol blurts out. “Tomorrow.”

Kyungsoo blinks again. His cheeks are pink- so are Chanyeol’s, though. The elevator gets so humid this time of year. The doors open. 

“It’s equality,” Chanyeol adds. “So. Be prepared. It’s going to… knock your vegan socks off.” 

Kyungsoo steps outside and looks at Chanyeol from over the threshold, hands balled in the sleeves of his sweater. Indecisive, somehow. He holds his breath and waits for him to speak, but is also very prepared for him to not speak at all. 

“Um.” Kyungsoo clears his throat. He’s staring at the ground instead of Chanyeol now, and it’s kind of. Well. He doesn’t want to say cute, but he might as well call it as it is. It’s really cute. “I’ll be there?”

“F-“ Chanyeol says, and then the doors slide shut. He launches himself at the button and jams his finger at it at least sixty times in his haste to get it back open, but when the doors finally creak apart again, Kyungsoo’s gone. The only sign that he was ever even there is the vague scent of tea tree oil and a few organic, flowery smells that Chanyeol can’t quite name. He smells like a Lush store. 

“Have a great day,” he says to the empty elevator, and lets his head knock back against the cold steel. 

***

“You’re definitely in love with him,” Baekhyun says through a mouthful of chocolate eclair, spinning idle circles in Chanyeol’s cushy office chair. “Like, these donuts are the real deal. You didn’t even cheap out with Krispy Kreme.” 

“I’ve never had a  _ long term  _ boyfriend who would do that for me. You’ve barely even talked to the guy,” Jongdae adds, swiping a cruller. “Are you gonna hang out soon?”

“Well.” Chanyeol hesitates, steepling his hands over his stomach and staring at the ceiling. The floor isn’t the coziest place to lie back and think about your cute neighbor, but the couch at the radio station has seen some terrible, terrible things involving Baekhyun and dubious condom usage. 

“Well?” Baekhyun prompts, eyebrows raised.

“I said I would bring him a vegan donut tomorrow morning. Because he’s vegan,” Chanyeol says. “I said that already, right? He drinks  _ tea  _ and he wears  _ sweaters  _ and he’s  _ vegan _ .” He smushes his face against the floor and picks at one of the nubs in the carpet, completely overwhelmed. It’s like this giant gay beast of a crush was lurking inside of him for the past three months, just waiting to be unleashed. How is he supposed to act normal around him now?

_ Not like you acted normal around him before,  _ his brain points out, and he has to agree. 

“So what I’m getting from this whole meltdown is that you’re gay  _ and _ a coward,” Jongdae interprets. Chanyeol nods fervently. 

“Yes! That! Absolutely. I’m a big gay coward. To be fair, I didn’t figure out I had a crush on him ‘til this morning. I started out with extremely platonic intentions.” 

“Jongdae, do you know what this means?” Baekhyun interrupts, turning to Jongdae with the worst kind of smile, all sharp corners and wicked shows of teeth. “It’s  _ his time.” _

“Time for what?” Chanyeol asks, although he’s not sure he even wants to know the answer. When Jongdae grins back, he’s doubly sure he’s better off without the knowledge.

“Time for you to christen The Cum Couch,” they say in haunting unison through mouthfuls of donut.  _ Ah.  _ They’re talking about the grody old couch in the corner that, according to them, has been the location of countless sexual escapades going back generations of employees. Chanyeol found a dirty condom beneath it once when he was looking for a pen, and since that day he’s maintained a distance of at least three feet at all times. 

Chanyeol turns red and kicks at Baekhyun’s chair, pushing him over to the other side of the room. “Stop being weird and oily. I just wanna, like. Hold his hand. At the moment.” 

Jongdae’s lips pout out in that little smile he does when he’s trying to be cute. (It doesn’t work.) “You  _ love  _ him, don’t you? You wanna be his boyfriend,” he teases, reaching over and grabbing at Chanyeol’s forearm. His hands are kind of clammy and sticky with donut glaze. 

“No! No, I-“

“You should bring him coffee,” Baekhyun says decisively. “Then he’ll have to bring the mug back to you later. It’s all about  _ contact,  _ Chanyeol. Gotta keep reminding him you exist. Do nice things for him, demonstrate your worth. Etcetera, etcetera.” It’s kind of terrifying how Baekhyun seems to have this down to a science, but on the other hand, Baekhyun’s had more boyfriends than anyone Chanyeol knows. Maybe he should trust him a  _ little  _ bit.

“Every time I remind him I exist I make a fool out of myself,” Chanyeol groans, voice growing into a sad crescendo. “I’ll figure it out, okay? Maybe I’ll… ask him if he wants to hang out. This week.” 

“You won’t,” they say as one, smirking at him. Shivers run down his spine, and he squirms. How the fuck do they keep doing that?

“I will!” he insists, if only to prove them wrong. “It’s going to happen.” It won’t.

Then their manager comes in and demands to know why they’re sitting around eating donuts, and Chanyeol gets too caught up in prepping the station for broadcast to think about boyfriends or sweaters or anything even vaguely related to Kyungsoo at all, really. It’s not until he’s getting tea for a guest speaker that he remembers. The herbal, earthy scent of it brings him back to the elevator, to Kyungsoo’s curious dark eyes, his small quick hands, the bare skin of his knee poking through a rip in his jeans. All that and more.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm just kinda... messing around with this. i thought kyungsoo would be really cute if he worked at lush so i was like! let's just make it a thing. and now it's a thing. i've got a long-distance chansoo on deck so i probably won't update this as regularly as i would like, but it's a thing nonetheless! thank you and i love you :*


End file.
